Books like Like people in history by Felice Picano

In the 29th century, humanity’s vast Hegemony spans dozens of worlds connected by farcaster portals, while the enigmatic Shrike guards the Time Tombs on the lone planet Hyperion. A diverse pilgrimage of chosen individuals must each recount why they were summoned to witness the tombs’ reverse time cycle.

Set in 1950s Paris, James Baldwin’s novel follows an American expatriate entangled in a doomed love triangle, confronting desire, morality, and sexual identity with stark honesty.

Jeanette Winterson's debut novel follows a young woman's journey of faith and self-discovery.

Will Self’s noir‑style novel follows the surreal life of Dorian, a charismatic Londoner whose hedonistic exploits span the 1980s to 1990s while his companions confront AIDS, yet he remains inexplicably untainted.

In 1946 Mississippi, a frontier family, a war‑scarred veteran brother‑in‑law, and a Black sharecropper son forge an unlikely friendship while confronting the brutal realities of the post‑war Jim Crow South.

From the stirrings of his adolescent libido to his eventual death from AIDS, Oscar Moore's hero confronts his destiny with raw candour, shocking self-awareness, and frightening fatalism.

Eighty‑Sixed chronicles B.J. Rosenthal’s struggle for love and normalcy amid the burgeoning AIDS crisis, capturing the fear, humor, and humanity of the 1980s gay community.

A haunting tale of three men battling AIDS and seeking love and meaning in the 1980s LA community.

How did the replication bomb we call "life" begin and where in the world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing with characteristic wit and an ability to clarify complex phenomena (the New York Times described his style as "the sort of science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius"), Richard Dawkins confronts this ancient mystery. Dawkins has been named by the London Daily Telegraph "the most brilliant contemporary preacher of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution." More than any other contemporary scientist, he has lent credence to the idea that human beings - indeed, all living things - are mere vehicles of information, gene carriers whose primary purpose is propagation of their own DNA. In this new book, Dawkins explains evolution as a flowing river of genes, genes meeting, competing, uniting, and sometimes separating to form new species. Filled with absorbing, at times alarming, stories about the world of bees and orchids, "designed" eyes and human ancestors, River Out of Eden answers tantalizing questions: Why are forest trees tall - wouldn't each survive more economically if all were short? Why is the sex ratio fifty-fifty when relatively few males are needed to impregnate many females? Why do we inherit genes for fatal illnesses? Who was our last universal ancestor? Dawkins suggests that it was more likely to have been an Adam than an African Eve. By "reverse engineering," he deduces the purpose of life ("God's Utility Function"). Hammering home the crucial role of gradualism in evolution, he confounds those who argue that every element of, say, an eye has to function perfectly or the whole system will collapse. But the engaging, personal, frequently provocative narrative that carries us along River Out of Eden has a larger purpose: the book illustrates the nature of scientific reasoning, exposing the difficulties scientists face in explaining life. We learn that our assumptions, intuitions, origin myths, and trendy intellectual and cultural "isms" all too often lead us astray.

The Angel of History retraces the life of Yemeni poet Jacob, from an Egyptian childhood to a San Francisco existence amid the AIDS crisis, as allegorical forces of Satan, Death, and saints confront his memories.

In 1985 Chicago, gallery director Yale Tishman faces career triumphs and the devastation of the AIDS epidemic, while his friend Nico dies and his partner tests positive. Thirty years later, Fiona travels to Paris to confront her estranged daughter lost to a cult, uncovering the lasting impact of AIDS on their lives.

Graduate student John Marr’s thesis on the enigmatic philosopher Timothy Hasler pulls him into a tangled web of academic intrigue, forbidden desire, and the haunting reality of AIDS-era gay life.

Noah Abraham, a writer in New York, finds inspiration and romance when a night out introduces him to charismatic Bart Gustafson, personal assistant to Hollywood legend Quinn Scott. Their adventures reveal Hollywood’s hidden dramas and love that rises when the stars come out.

Halfway home is a novel by Paul Monette that follows Tom Ahaheen's journey as he struggles with AIDS and reconnects with his estranged brother Brian.

After the AIDS-related death of filmmaker Angel Clare, his young boyfriend Michael is left in deep mourning, while the sophisticated circle of Clare’s friends—both gay and straight—must learn to care for him as they confront grief, misunderstanding, and the complexities of love and forgiveness.

Spanning two decades, this novel follows Bobby and gay Jonathan as they grow up in a 1970s small town, later forming a unconventional family with Jonathan’s mother Alice and Clare.